i sat with my frappuccino and a copy of NYLON while the older lady settled in with a more subtle cup of coffee and a copy of TIME. at that moment i felt irresponsible. shouldn’t i be doing something more concrete than flipping the pages of a fashion magazine? what was a copy of NYLON going to teach me ? and then i thought, why shouldn’t i be doing this? this magazine celebrated young people, their success and the inspiring stories of how these young people got to where they are simply by following their dreams and doing what they loved and of course putting effort into it.

i went back to feeling good but before i knew it, my mind was back to thinking mode.

being young may be a virtue but it comes with the burden of having to carve a path for the future, a future that is bright. i wondered if the life the lady was living the bright future she had pictured for herself. she was dressed in a suit, looked calm and every now and then took a peek at her blackberry. it was an attractive image but i wasn’t sure if i would feel right in a suit.

the rain had started to come down a little now and my drink had turned kind of watery brown and my neck was tired from stooping over the magazine. it was time to head home.